Not everything needs to be on a national or world stage - in fact, some would argue that more change happens from local grassroots building. Case in point - the Northwest Asian Weekly Got Talent Search for Asian-American talent - but then again it’s not like it’s that small either….

Isaiah Washington has come out in a recent AP article and candidly stated that he was fired because of racism and that because he was a black man he didn’t get a second chance like a white person would.

On one hand you can easily and rightly say that his ass was handed to him because he didn’t have the same respect for the LGBT crowd that he expects everyone should have for African-Americans, and also (I’m sad to say) because it was so public as well - black, white, brown, woman or man - what does he expect from a TV network which is praised for the show he was on because of its diversity? It’s kind of like if you find a Klan member working for the American Jewish Archives - you kinda have to fire them for the PR alone.

At the same time Isaiah Washington does have a point when he says that white men get more chances to make mistakes than black men do. He is right. Black men have to work harder to prove they are worth the same as white men - it’s called the Black Tax - and Asians and women have it too (see the previous posts).

But does it matter in this case? Is it relevant? For the sake of the firing itself - no. You want to use the same words that people use in hate crimes (and don’t tell me you didn’t know it was derogatory and demeaning and hateful), then you need to suffer the consequences. Any employer has the right to fire you for that reason.

But then ask the question - what if it was Tom Cruise?

And then ask the question - what if it was an Asian-American actor who said all of this instead of an African-American actor? Would we even be listening?

Rapper XZIBIT has accused staff on an Australian talk show of racism, alleging an employee told him viewers wouldn’t tolerate a hip-hop performance. The rapper is currently touring Australasia and was invited to perform an unlikely rap duet with Canadian crooner Michael Buble on the evening show, hosted by Aussie TV personality Rove MCManus

For those people that pre-order the DVD before August 14th, the Notorious C.H.O. will autograph it herself.

“Bam Bam and Celeste” will be on DVD on August 14th! Pre-order your copy here starting June 13 and it will be AUTOGRAPHED by Margaret. Only those pre-ordered before August 14th will be autographed. If you’re in SF, there will be a special screening and q&a with Margaret on August 16th at the Castro Theatre…details soon!

Check out her site for more information and her schedule on the True Colors tour.

In her role as a Unicef ambassador, Lucy Liu travelled to the eastern province of North Kivu, where she visited the camps of Goma and Bunia.

She said: “It was really shocking. You don’t really get a sense of how horrifying it is until you go into the areas of internally displaced persons. The conditions are terrible and the people are really suffering incredibly, even with help.

“I met a lot of young girls who had been brutally raped. Some of them had been violated so much that their thighs had been dislocated. They had become incontinent because their internal organs were so badly damaged.

Read the article here on aidan maconachy which talks about the Gallop poll and how 87% of Americans give interracial unions the thumb up - and also about the disparity between the approval rating and the actual percentage of interracial unions.

Editor’s Note: The continuing scandal embroiling the only Asian American on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has the city’s Asian-American politicians and activists worrying whether the shadow over one will affect them all. Eugenia Chien monitors Chinese-language media for New America Media.

SAN FRANCISCO — The residency scandal surrounding Ed Jew, the only Asian-American city supervisor, may have a lasting negative impact on the political participation of the Asian-American community, but many young Asian-Americans remain hopeful that their community can overcome this.Jew is facing criminal charges that he does not live in the Sunset District that he represents and allegations that he actually lives in Burlingame in San Mateo County. The scandal broke when Jew was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly accepting $40,000 from Quickly, a tapioca tea chain, to help with city permit issues. Following intense media attention over the last month, City Attorney Dennis Herrera has asked the state attorney general for permission to file a lawsuit that could unseat Jew “If the allegations are true, it would represent a great corruption of the public trust between a public official and voters who put him in office,” says David Lee, executive director of the nonprofit Chinese American Voters Education Committee in San Francisco. “Asian-American politicians may have to regain the trust of the community. They need to show that they are different, and they need to restore the trust and overcome people’s cynicism,” Lee says.

To be honest I could care less about Ed Jew. The fact that he’s being investigated by the FBI for possibly taking kickbacks tells me he’s just one of many of the other corrupt government officials (allegedly). He just happened to get caught.

What concerns me is the fact that Asian-Americans themselves are the ones coming forward and going “We’ll have to regain trust….” or “This hits close to home”, or “He was Asian, so I hope other people don’t think Asian politicians are corrupt.”

THEIR APOLOGIZING FOR THE ACTIONS OF ANOTHER ASIAN-AMERICAN. Which basically gives credence to the inane thought that Asian-Americans are one big collective and we all know each other or even worse yet - have allegencies to other Asian-Americans OVER everyone else - and that’s just not true.

I know there’s the “Chink Tax”, just like there’s the “Black Tax” and the “Pussy Tax” - I’m not saying we shouldn’t say that it exists, because it does - and it needs to be addressed.

But Ed Jew is just some corrupt official (allegedly) - let his ass hang in the wind like any other politician and stop apologizing for him just because he’s Asian.

Damn - I’m definitely pulling for Michelle Wie. I mean - who wouldn’t be? But the fact remains that if you’re injured you have to let yourself rehab and get better and maybe she’s just not giving herself enough time - but even though she’s getting out of the men’s JD Classic, she’s still looking to play at the Women’s Open in Pine Needles.

All I know is you have to give this girl her proper due - 17, just finished high school, and trying without fear to play along the big boys - and not letting anyone tell her she can’t - give her a few more years and she’s endorsing everything.

It’s been 25 years now since the death of Vincent Chin who was brutally attacked and killed in a hate crime where the perpetrators where pretty much let off without so much as a slap on the wrists…here’s a snippet from an article down at wdetfm.com

“Twenty five years after his death. . . Vincent Chin’s murder remains a symbol of racial intolerance in Metro Detroit. WDET’s John Notarianni has more."

In 1982. . . Chinese American Vincent Chin was celebrating his bachelor’s party in Highland Park. A bar-room scuffle escalated. . . and two men tracked Chin down and beat him to death with a baseball bat. The attackers were auto workers. . . and thought Chin was Japanese. The case drew national attention. . . especially as the judge handed down weak probation sentences to the two perpetrators. Outraged citizens formed “American Citizens for Justice” to prevent hate violence against Asian Americans in the future. Still. . . A-C-J President Roland Hwang says things have changed less than he’d hoped in 25 years”

According to this article here comedian Damon Wayans walked out of his 4 night stand because of racism towards his friends by the club owner - who denies racism had anything to do with it. Check it out for yourself.

It seems one place where there hasn’t been a dearth of Asian-American faces is on Bravo TV’s Top Chef - and Season Three is proving no different with two new chefs Sara N. (Nguyen), and Hung (Hyunh) who are both Vietnamese-American.

While you may question the fact that they line up both Sara and Hung together in the middle of the promo picture, and that for many people it’s probably not a stretch for them to see Asian-Americans cooking and in the kitchen (can anyone say Chinese takeout?) - you have to give credit where credit is due - and Bravo TV has definitely given Asian-Americans a place to shine on T.V., and with all the great drama that happens on Top Chef, it will be another chance to see more Asian-American personalities rise to the top.

Slant Eye For The Round Eye officially started out as a project for APA Heritage Month - and now it’s officially one month old and designs are set on making it bigger and better and much more slanty - er….

There’s a great article in Forbes talking about what I think many of us already know, or have at least suspected: The stress of discrimination, walking on eggshells, maintaining the model minority myth - it can all lead to health problems…..

2008 Year In Review

If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).

2007 In Review Posts

If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).

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